Columbia Business School announced yesterday that it is modifying its core curriculum to increase flexibility. The new requirements will go into effect in Fall 2008.

The new core will be divided into required and flexible segments. Students will be required during the first two semesters to complete each required course or to seek an exemption from that course. The required courses cover foundational business functions like Managerial Economics, Financial Accounting, Corporate Finance, Managerial Statistics, Marketing Strategy, and Strategy Formulation.

The core's flexible component takes place in the second semester of the first year, and student's will choose one course each from the following three business areas:

• Organizations: Organizational Change; Power and Influence; or Social Capital
• Performance: Operations Strategy or Performance Measurement
  
• Markets: Game Theory; Global Economic Environment II: Business Cycles and Financial Markets; or Strategy, Structure and Incentives.

I spoke with a CBS representative, and she emphasized, as does Dr. Ziv in the press release, that the modification does not diminish the core's rigor, but will enable students to customize their education while still receiving a strong foundation in business fundamentals. It will also allow students one more elective course during their two years in the Columbia MBA program.

In comparing the new core to the current one, Columbia is condensing Managerial Economics into a half-term course, Global Economics into a half-term course, and operations management into a half-term course. It cut Creating Effective Organizations and Managerial Accounting and is incorporating much of the content from these courses into other core courses, including the new ones.

Columbia will also shortly launch its own blog with contributions from guest bloggers, including alumni, students, faculty, and even an occasional admissions representative.